Floyd Mayweather's heir apparent? Roach thinks Crawford is the goods

By now most fight fans are jumping on the "Terence Crawford" bandwagon.

After seeing him dismantle the perceived second best Super Lightweight in the world, Viktor Postol, this past Saturday night with relative ease, it's hard not to like the young American hopeful against anyone in and around his respective weight division.

But is TC the next big star of boxing, like Bob Arum of Top Rank and Peter Nelson of HBO Sports are hoping?

Freddie Roach seems to think the 28 year old technician has the ring savvy of another master from the mid-west.

"Crawford's a pretty good puncher," stated the Hall of Fame trainer to Steve Kim of BoxingScene.com. "He hits hard, moves very well and emulates Floyd Mayweather quite a bit."

"I think he's like a young Mayweather right now."

But is the ring talent enough to become a super star in today's American sports climate? Does Terence possess the same charisma of Manny Pacquiao, or the sharp tongue of Mayweather or Ali? It's the belief of many boxing experts that a fighter's personality has definitely become a huge factor in determining their respective market value in the sporting world.

Does the ambidextrous puncher have the charm to match the elite level skill set?

TC doesn't believe such a definitive recipe for success exists in boxing.

"I don't want to be the next Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao...I want to be the first Terence Crawford," the unified Super Lightweight Champion stated at the post fight press conference this past Saturday night. "Mayweather is still one of the guys I look up to as a fighter. Not only the things he does inside the ring, but the things he does outside of it as well. But I'm painting my own picture. I want to create my own legacy."

Head trainer and co-manager Brian McIntyre expounds on his fighter's sentiment.

"TC's focus is on what he does in the ring," Crawford's longtime mentor stated to ESNews. "Many fighters who focus their attention on promoting their brand by talking a lot can't back it up inside the ring and don't have long careers in this sport. Mayweather and Ali are exceptions."

"With Terence, he just handles his business in the ring, and leaves the s*** talking to me. I don't think it's something that he'll ever do. That's just not who he is. You'll never see him make himself out to be the villain either."

It's ultimately up to the real bosses of boxing, the paying customers, to determine who inevitably becomes the next face of the fringe American pastime. Will the fans eventually endorse Terence Crawford as "the man" of boxing?